Idrissa Gana Gueye welcomes new competition in Everton's midfield

08 February 2017

Everton's Idrissa Gana Gueye welcomes new competition for midfield places at the club.

The 27-year-old was arguably the Toffees' best player in the first half of the season but after returning from the African Nations Cup with Senegal he has discovered he cannot not walk straight back into the team.

While he was away the club signed Morgan Schneiderlin from Manchester United in a deal which could be worth up to £24million, while academy youngster Tom Davies seized his chance to put in some impressive performances.

Gueye was an unused substitute for Everton's 6-3 weekend win over Bournemouth and must wait to see whether he will get a chance at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

"There's really good quality, tough competition but good competition which is good for the team," he told evertonfc.com.

"It's (Schneiderlin's arrival) a really good signing for us and training has gone well so far.

"I don't know if the gaffer will put me on the pitch and play with him or with another player.

"It's not a problem, we are a team and everybody deserves to play.

"I'm not surprised about Tom. He's shown it on the pitch when we train and he has a lot of talent.

"The form is good for the team. I watched us on TV when I was away and we played well, won games and that's good for us.